Iran may still be hiding atomic activity: Germany

Khaleej Times:

10 November 2005

(Reuters)

BERLIN - Iran is not being fully open with UN inspectors about its nuclear programme and may still be hiding something from the international community, Germany’s designated foreign minister said on Thursday.

“There is a lack of transparency. That is clear,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier said of Iran at a conference on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. “We still have some suspicions that there are developments being pursued (by Iran) that go against this principle.”

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei hopes a deal will be reached within days that will defuse the standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme, the nuclear watchdog said in a statement issued at its Vienna headquarters.

Steinmeier, who is expected formally to replace outgoing Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer later this month, said Teheran had a right to a peaceful nuclear energy programme but must assure the world that it is not pursuing atom bombs.

“Iran has a right that the international community accept its sovereign rights, its national pride and honour. But what is more important is that the international community has a right to get objective guarantees that Iran’s nuclear programme will be exclusively used for peaceful purposes,” he said.